What does it mean to have "Coarse hair"?

prettygrl

New Member
I always thought I had coarse hair. I went to the hairstylist today and took
biolage ultra hydrating balm. I had never used it before.

My hairstylist was asking me why I got it because it says it is for "coarse hair". What does it mean to have "coarse hair"?

After she was finished, she noticed my hair felt softer and more moisturized tho.
 

mscounselor

New Member
Personally I think coarse hair is just a euphemism for dry hair. When all my friends talk about their coarse hair, they usually say it doesn't feel that way when its moisturized.
Its also used to describe kinky hair. That definition I don't too agree with.
 

baglady215

Well-Known Member
I always thought coarse referred to the thickness of hair/strands... Fine, Medium, Coarse... That's why I always refer to my hair as coarse.
 

mahoganee

Active Member
Hair texture


Texture is a matter of each hair's width.


Fine

Fine hair is very, very small in diameter, and tends to be weightless and flyaway. Frequently, it's quite straight and won't hold a curl easily.


  • Click on the name to see a picture of celebrities with fine textured hair:

Juliette Binoche Ashley Judd Uma Thurman Gwyneth Paltrow Sharon Stone Isabella Rosellini Tyra Banks

Medium

If your hair is not flyaway or thick and coarse, it is medium. You should consider yourself lucky, as your hair texture is the most common and most manageable.


  • Click on the name to see a picture of celebrities with medium textured hair:

Claudia Schiffer Mariah Carey Janet Jackson

Coarse

Coarse hair has a thick diameter and frequently, a rough feeling.


  • Click on the name to see a picture of celebrities with coarse textured hair:

Helena Christensen Stephanie Seymour Helena Bonham Carter
 

mscounselor

New Member
mahoganee said:
Hair texture


Texture is a matter of each hair's width.


Fine

Fine hair is very, very small in diameter, and tends to be weightless and flyaway. Frequently, it's quite straight and won't hold a curl easily.


  • Click on the name to see a picture of celebrities with fine textured hair:

Juliette Binoche Ashley Judd Uma Thurman Gwyneth Paltrow Sharon Stone Isabella Rosellini Tyra Banks

Medium

If your hair is not flyaway or thick and coarse, it is medium. You should consider yourself lucky, as your hair texture is the most common and most manageable.


  • Click on the name to see a picture of celebrities with medium textured hair:

Claudia Schiffer Mariah Carey Janet Jackson

Coarse

Coarse hair has a thick diameter and frequently, a rough feeling.


  • Click on the name to see a picture of celebrities with coarse textured hair:

Helena Christensen Stephanie Seymour Helena Bonham Carter

Thanks for posting these definitions. Funny. Its interesting to see who they classified as fine, medium, and coarse. How is Janet Jacksons hair medium. Unless they are referring to her weave. Her hair on good times would have aligned more with their definition of coarse.....at least thats what I think.
 

locabouthair

Well-Known Member
I think my hair is coarse but it can get soft with the right products. Because it's coarse it always feels like it needs extra oils and needs to be moisturized more.
 

webby

Think Slim
mscounselor said:
Thanks for posting these definitions. Funny. Its interesting to see who they classified as fine, medium, and coarse. How is Janet Jacksons hair medium. Unless they are referring to her weave. Her hair on good times would have aligned more with their definition of coarse.....at least thats what I think.
I was thinking the same thing, but it can be difficult to tell with curly or ethnic hair, because we can have kinks, yet it still be fine in texture.
 

Ayeshia

New Member
A lot of people think coarse hair = rough feeling air which isnt true.

Basically its just really thick hair that is really resistant and strong...ie Asain Hair.
 

SandySea

New Member
baglady215 said:
I always thought coarse referred to the thickness of hair/strands... Fine, Medium, Coarse... That's why I always refer to my hair as coarse.

I agree. In the reading that I've done on hair, course, fine, and medium referred to the actual diameter of the strand. I have fine hair with thin individual strands, but it is dense enough that my hair doesn't look thin unless there is chemical damage.
 

Mestiza

New Member
Ayeshia said:
A lot of people think coarse hair = rough feeling air which isnt true.

Basically its just really thick hair that is really resistant and strong...ie Asain Hair.

That is exactly what a hairstylist told me awhile back. He said that coarse hair consists of thick, strong strands, which can be reistant, but, people think that it means kinky hair.

He said that's why so many end up w/ overprocessed hair when they relax their hair, b/c they incorrectly follow the directions for coarse hair, when most people, have fine or normal/medium hair.
 
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candibaby

New Member
my cosmetology professor (she's white..) said the same thing about me trying the biolage ultra hydrating balm on my hair. it actually made my hair go limp (TOO moisturizing) and she said it was because I dont do that much to my hair (color, use heat often or every day, etc..) whereas she does that and uses the BUHB and it works great for her.. because she "abuses" her hair. I think that's the road your stylist was trying to go down.. because if your hair isnt really dry/damaged/coarse products like that dont work as great on your hair as they would on people whose hair calls for it. *shrug*
 

mahoganee

Active Member
mscounselor said:
Thanks for posting these definitions. Funny. Its interesting to see who they classified as fine, medium, and coarse. How is Janet Jacksons hair medium. Unless they are referring to her weave. Her hair on good times would have aligned more with their definition of coarse.....at least thats what I think.

Ha,ha. That's the same thing that I was thinking! I don't even know what Janet's hair looks like. I've seen Tyra without weave and I don't think her hair is "fine".:D
 

junipertree

Well-Known Member
SandySea said:
I agree. In the reading that I've done on hair, course, fine, and medium referred to the actual diameter of the strand. I have fine hair with thin individual strands, but it is dense enough that my hair doesn't look thin unless there is chemical damage.
I agree! I would never have considered myself to have 'fine" hair because it is dense but when I look at the individual strands i see that my hair is "fine" in diameter.
 

EbonyEyes

Well-Known Member
I thought I had coarse hair growing up but I don't.

My individual strands are medium-fine. But I have A LOT of strands.

Ebony
 

Mizani_Mrs

Well-Known Member
In my opinion, I think coarse hair refers to thick hair strand that has cuticles that are not smoothed, which makes the hair feel rough and act unruly and hard to manage/curl/etc. Like for instance when you see products or websites that display actual hair strands magnified thousands of times, they often compare a hair strand with smoothe cuticles compared to a hairstrand of the same thickness but has rough unsmoothed cuticles. And that type of hair is often labeled as 'coarse, and or damaged'.
I have thick hair, but it is not coarse and it's frustrating when people automatically label my hair as coarse. My hair strands are thick but they are not tough to manage. My hair is very smoothe and soft. Although my hair can become coarse if i don't take care of it.

Or who's to say that it only applies to thick hairstrands?? fine hairstrands can have unsmoothed cuticles also???? :perplexed
 
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Mizani_Mrs

Well-Known Member
I just read thru everyone's responses, it looks like we all got the same idea but with our own little twist. Just pick one definition and run with it gurl... ;)
 

Shatani

New Member
SandySea said:
I agree. In the reading that I've done on hair, course, fine, and medium referred to the actual diameter of the strand. I have fine hair with thin individual strands, but it is dense enough that my hair doesn't look thin unless there is chemical damage.
that describes my hair perfectly!!!! the strands themselves are very thin....when my hair is straight, it doesnt look like much....but its soooo dense! when its natural and curly, the denseness (if thats a word) plus the shrinkage make my hair virtually unmanageable! i cant even part it right!!! :lol:
 
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Porsche19

New Member
Coarse means that your individual strands are thick. I believe that thicker hair has more cuticle layers. Coarse hair is more likely to be dry/rough, but dryness and roughness are not always present imo.
 

prettygrl

New Member
Mizani_Mrs said:
I just read thru everyone's responses, it looks like we all got the same idea but with our own little twist. Just pick one definition and run with it gurl... ;)

I will! Thanks everyone!
 

Champagne_Wishes

A broke graduate
mahoganee said:
Ha,ha. That's the same thing that I was thinking! I don't even know what Janet's hair looks like. I've seen Tyra without weave and I don't think her hair is "fine".:D


It looks fine to me. Maybe it is because it is somewhat on the the thick side.
 

Shatani

New Member
is there any place that has a picture for comparison...i mean how do you know if your strands are fine if your strands are all youve ever seen???
 

Tai

New Member
I have a mixture of fine, medium, and coarse strands in my hair. The most common type are medium. The fine ones are almost invisible and you can barely feel them. The coarse ones are almost as thick as a piece of thread, you can definitely feel them, much easier to see. The fine one will tend to cling to a thicker strand. And the medium ones fall in the middle. Asians almost always have coarse strands of hair. My girl who's Vietnamese has the coarsest hair I've ever seen. All her strands look like long, thick pieces of thread and there's a wiry feel to her hair. It's extremely strong.
 
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